Welcome to The Mundane Adventures of a Fangirl

I consider myself a Fangirl. What does that mean, you ask? A "fanboy" in the most common understanding is a hardcore fan of 'genre' based entertainment in particular. In my case - science-fiction and comic book based movies and television. Because I'm a chick - it's fangirl, not fanboy. There you have it! I am a big movie fan, however, not necessarily a 'film' fan. And now - I have the forum to present my opinions to the public! These will mainly be movie reviews -that will always be my opinion - repeat OPINION. Just what I think, and in no way do I present my opinion as fact. I hope you enjoy and maybe it will help you decide what to see at the movie theater this weekend!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Movie Review: This is 40 (134 minutes – R)

Every once in a while, something comes along that makes me
really appreciate the fact that I am single and childless.This movie would be one of those things.It’s billed as the ‘sort-of’ sequel to
Knocked Up.I loved the characters of Pete
and Debbie in Knocked Up.Leslie Mann
and Paul Rudd played sister and brother-in-law to Catherine Heigel’s
character.They were hilarious in their
bit scenes in that movie.

Paul Rudd is
one of my favorite comedic actors, and I could watch him improv for an extended
period of time.It suits him well for
Judd Apatow directed and produced movies, which would explain why he’s in so
many of them.If you missed I love you
Man, you should check out that one too.

This is 40 picks up roughly 5 years after Knocked Up and Pete
and Debbie are both turning 40, although Debbie is refusing to do so.The movie doesn’t really have a clear story
arc; instead we are following the events that happen between Debbie’s birthday,
for which there is a small party at home, and Pete’s birthday, for which there
is a large party planned.Both
characters have their own insecurities to deal with.Pete’s music producing business is just shy
of going belly-up, and the boutique that Debbie runs (and they both seem to
own) is not doing well, missing $12,000.They also have to deal with their two daughters, one a teenager obsessed
with Lost, and one an 8 year old, annoying and confused.The movie almost seems to be loosely
strung-together vignettes or sketches.Pete and Debbie each go to the doctor; Debbie’s two assistants in the
store are strange; Pete is pushing Graham Parker’s new album; Debbie’s father
is recently back in her life after leaving when she was 8, and Pete’s father is
constantly asking for money after having triplets; Pete and Debbie go on
vacation and eat pot cookies; and Debbie yells at a child at their daughters’
school .

These would each be an entertaining SNL
sketch, but as it is, they are loosely pieced together to make one really long
movie.Safe length for a comedy is 90
minutes.134 minutes is way too
long.

For the record, the marketing was good/bad. There were several scenes in many commercials for this movie that were then not in the final theatrical cut. Good, because then you haven't seen all the funny parts in the commercials, but then bad because some of those scenes I was looking forward to seeing more of, and they weren't there.

The cast is all capable:

Paul Rudd is, again, fantastic. He’s probably the best comedic actor working now, and he is funny and genuine in this movie.

Leslie Mann (the real-life Mrs. Apatow) is also funny and genuine – however I find her to be a little grating.I can’t tell if that’s her fault or the way the character is written.To be honest, both Pete and Debbie come off as terrible, annoying people by the end of the movie.

Maude and Iris Apatow again play the two daughters Sadie and Charlotte.The ease for them is actor for their father and pretending to be their mother’s daughters.Maude in particular plays a confused teenager pretty well and could have a future in movies that aren’t her father’s – if she chooses to.

Jason Segel has just a little more than a cameo, not as his character from Knocked Up as far as I can tell, but as Debbie’s slightly inappropriate physical trainer.

Kristen Wiig’s writing partner Annie Mumolo plays Debbie’s best friend Barb who is married to Pete’s friend Barry, played by Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog – and a comic writer).They are great in small parts.If this movie follows the last, the next movie will center around their characters!

Megan Fox – I can’t believe I’m going to say this – is actually pretty hilarious as the dumb/pretty boutique employee.She essentially plays Megan Fox, but does a good job and is funny.Charlyne Yi plays the other boutique worker, who has some pretty hilarious scenes too.

Albert Brooks plays Pete’s dad, and John Lithgow plays Debbie’s dad.Both are good, and each get the majority of the movie to be despised, then have a small redemption moment at the end of the movie.

The best part of this movie is the cameo by Melissa McCarthy as the mother of another boy at the school.It would appear that they just let her go unscripted for about 10 minutes, most of which plays over the end credits.She is hilarious, and provided my only laugh-out-loud moment of the movie.

On the whole, I didn’t really enjoy this movie.I couldn’t tell if I found the characters unrelate-able
because I’m not married and I don’t have kids – or if my gut reaction to them
as horrible characters was the reason.Pete and Debbie really do spend most of their time arguing and keeping
things from one another.They scream at
each other in front of their kids, then act surprised when their kids scream at
one another and back at them.If they are
really struggling financially, then why do they go to that clearly expensive
resort on vacation, and why is he driving a BMW and she’s driving a Lexus
SUV?The first thought is that they have
to sell the house – start with the cars, people.Both Mann and Rudd are great at delivering
Apatow dialogue, but I just found both their characters so irritating that I
wasn’t invested in the characters at all and found I didn’t really care what
happened to them.I knew they loved one
another despite fighting all the time, so watching them come to that
realization was more boring than entertaining.It’s a shame when a comedy didn’t make me laugh out loud at all –
except, like I said, Melissa McCarthy.Oh well, maybe it’s just me – and I’m okay with that.I’m 4 years from 40 yet, and I think I’m way
happier than these characters.I’ll skip
the next Apatow flick and wait for DVD.

5 out of 10.Average –
some cute and touching moments, especially between the two sisters, but really –
the rest of the characters were terrible.Bonus Video 1: Paul Rudd doing a top 10 list:

L.A.M.B. Member #1445!

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About Me

I use my blog as an outlet for my rantings about movies and pop culture in general. This will spare my friends and family from my near-constant lecturing on the state of movies today, but will unleash that lecturing into the bloggosphere - sorry!
I can't promise to be entertaining, but I will certainly try to be.
I will promise movie reviews - and lots of them.
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